Spring Break

It’s funny. We all go through the phases of the US school system – from kindergarten on up through high school and even possibly beyond into college. What you’ll notice is that, as a student, work is punctuated with lengthy breaks. Two weeks for Christmas here. Spring break there. Then it’s months off during the summer to enjoy life, which is really what life is all about, in my opinion. Without enjoying the ride, what’s the point?

But that all changes when you enter adulthood with all of its associated responsibilities (and bummers).

No More Extended Time Off

The work-break-work schedule vaporizes in favor of a work-work-work-work-maybe take a few days off-work-work-work schedule.

No more three or even four months of free time off per year. It’s like you’re trained to enjoy a few months off every year to recharge and operate at 100% only to have the script flipped once you turn 22 or 23 years old and enter the corporate world. You thought that schedule that’s been ingrained into you since you were old enough to know what ingraining was would continue on? Ha! It’s like a cosmic joke that society plays on itself.

You generally get two weeks off per year in the corporate world – fully paid for, if you’re lucky. Although, there was an unspoken, but noticeable, undercurrent of encouragement to work through those two weeks throughout my career. Yeah, you get to weeks, but you don’t really want it, right? You’d rather just work through it and collect a check, right? Umm, wrong.

I certainly haven’t been able to enjoy a spring break in, oh, more than a decade or so now.

The Return

But 2015 is the return of the spring break!

My fiancee, Claudia, works in the education system. As such, she’s been fortunate to kind of keep that student-like schedule all the way through her career. She’s always preferred time off and doing what she loves to more money. And I can’t say I blame her.

Her spring break is this coming week. And guess who is going to be home as well to enjoy it?

Yours truly.

I may not be financially independent yet – my passive dividend income is only covering around 25% or so of my expenses right now – but working from home where I write for a living and work on projects I truly enjoy is about as close as it gets. And being able to kind of set your own hours is one of the most magnificent benefits of this lifestyle.

Taking My First Spring Break In More Than A Decade

So I decided to work hard this past weekend by getting a jump start on some of the articles that are due this coming week to enjoy spring break for the first time in a long time, and certainly the first time with Claudia.

We’ve got a full week scheduled:

First, we’re going to hit a spring training baseball game. The Baltimore Orioles make Sarasota home for spring training, so we’ll be going to a game for the first time. Claudia’s never been to a baseball game, so we’re going to change that. And I’ve never been to a spring training game. Killing two birds with one stone.

Then we’ve got tickets to see a play. Sarasota has at least three professional playhouses that I’m aware of, so there’s always an event going on. I haven’t been to a theater since I was in college, so that should be a lot of fun as well. Theater isn’t something I crave or anything, so missing out on it for all of these years wasn’t exactly a sacrifice. But I remember enjoying myself seeing live plays back in college and it’s something we’ve been talking about doing for a while now.

We’re also going to be getting our passports taken care of while we both have the time. We plan on going to El Salvador later this year for Christmas, so this’ll be a good chance to get that done.

Of course, we also have to fit some time at the beach somewhere in there. We’re lucky in that we already live somewhere that people travel to from all over the country – and the world – for their respective spring breaks. So we’re not going anywhere. We’re staying right where we are. World-class beaches are right around the corner, so no sense in paying to go anywhere else. Plus, the beach is free! Oftentimes the best things in life truly are free.

Financial Independence Can Be One Long Spring Break

What I’ve noticed since working from home is that life now is almost like one extended spring break for me. I don’t mean that it’s all parties and shutting the bar down. But when you’re constantly doing what you really want to do, life’s stress and troubles kind of melt away, which is the same feeling I always got during spring break.

And I’m still aggressively pursuing financial independence because I want to make sure this ride never stops. In the end, it’s all about owning your own time and customizing life to your specifications. Want to continue working hard? Great, because financial independence and work aren’t mutually exclusive. Want to hang out at the beach every day? Nobody’s going to tell you any different. Want to travel the world? It’s your oyster.

Conclusion

So for the first time in more than ten years, I’ll be taking a spring break this year!

There’s still some work to do, as I wasn’t able to get ahead on everything. But we’ll have more than enough time this week to do everything we have scheduled, enjoy the time off, and still get a few things done. But everything we’ll be doing – work and leisure alike – will be that which we want to do and that which we enjoy doing.

I’ll still be around, of course. I’ve got a couple of posts in the hopper which I’ll be publishing this coming Tuesday and Thursday – one an article about a recent stock purchase and the other that goes over February’s budget. So keep an eye out.

But let’s keep working. Let’s continue striving. Mt. Freedom is there for the climbing. And at the top of the mountain? One endless spring break.

Comments

Sounds like a solid plan to me. I’m a huge baseball fan myself but never been to spring training either. You are lucky in that the teams come to you every spring. Hope you guys make that an annual tradition. Enjoy the week and all the best to you and your family.

Woo woo, spring break! Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun coming up. My lady and I are also giving ourselves a spring break this year. We are both taking a week off to go visit some friends in Oregon starting next weekend. I can hardly wait.

“Mt. Freedom is there for the climbing. And at the top of the mountain? One endless spring break.” An excellent sentiment. Enjoy your time off!

I took a fall break in late October when the wife and I headed to Florida for a couple of days (east coast side). A recharge of the batteries for sure. Given the work you’ve put in to get where you are today, you’ve earned the break. Also, let’s go O’s!

Spring break sounds awesome! Here in Finland we still have a little bit of winter left but the snow is melting fast here in southern Finland and the day is getting a bit longer every day. I was fortunate to have my little break early this year when I visited Tenerife, Canary Island. It was great to get away from the cold and dark winter here. Your spring break sounds wonderful and I wish you get to re-charge your batteries and maybe get inspiration for new articles when you get back to work. Definitely staying tuned for those upcoming articles next week!

What a funny post, considering I’ve been talking about lost summer breaks with my fiancee. The reason is because I quit my job last month to take an extended break and since then I’ve felt like I haven’t since I was in HS on summer break. I’m able to stay up late, get up whenever I want, work on what I want to, etc. It’s an amazing feeling that I know you can relate to and I think we’re incredibly fortunate to be in similar situations. I wish you and Claudia a wonderful time off together!

I don’t watch a ton of baseball, and when I do it’s generally a Tigers game. But I’ve always enjoyed the few live games I’ve been to. Should be fun. And it’s nice that the spring training tickets are fairly reasonable.

Yeah, we’re really lucky in that the weather this time of year is just about perfect for watching baseball outside. I’ve been to a few live games up in Michigan, but never down here in Florida. Really looking forward to it. 🙂

Appreciate the kind words very much. I hope you guys have a great week as well over there!

I remember you talking about that trip. Sounds like you guys had a good time. Always important to take time away and recharge every once in a while. I’m not particularly in need of recharging per se, but it’ll be nice to actually be home so that we can spend time while she has the week off. Definitely the first time for something like that.

Appreciate the support. Hope you’re having a great weekend over there!

35 days? That’s fantastic. It’s a very different situation over here in the US in comparison to a good chunk of Europe. I might not have minded my career so much if I were given 35 days off per year. Then again, it’s probably for the best that the vacations were so sparse; gave me the motivation to do what I’m doing.

You’re absolutely right about the difficulty taking time off from a career, even when it’s offered. My workplace is fairly generous with vacation, and management doesn’t discourage you from taking it, but even then the knowledge that there’s work to be done–and someone other than you is holding you responsible for it–makes it hard to plan a week+ off in a row.

Oh my stars! Yes, it drives me crazy that the corporate world doesn’t offer as many holidays. When I was a kid I loved going to school, coming home and deciding how to spend my afternoons and weekends. I had the type of parents who let me be independent while still being emotionally and physically available. I went on a lot of holidays with my folks. I was also very active and less sedentary. I loved it.

I want my time back. I’m jealous of the time I used to have as a child. So I’m working toward financial independence. I don’t get why things have to change once you reach adulthood. People say, “well that’s part of growing up…” and I understand we have to grow up and mature and that life happens, but at the same time I don’t believe in this mad workaholism that has taken hold in the corporate world where there is little time for the individual.

I also don’t like that in the 21st Century most companies still require many of their workers to show up on time and on site. Why can’t we do results based work, in an age of the internet especially with tools like email, VPN, Google Docs, smartphones, etc.

Anyway have a lovely Spring Break, you deserve it, and take photos. You should show them off on your blog. I’m jealous in a good way that you live next to a beach. 🙂

Enjoy your spring break! You have earned a nice break. So make sure you make the most of it and enjoy your time with Claudia. Seeing a spring training game…heck yeah! Spring training has always been a goal of mine, so you have no idea how jealous I am of you. And I am not much of a theater guy either, but you have to respect the hard work the actors/actresses put into the shows and you hopefully get to see their talents shine. I’m sure it’ll be a good performance for you.

It is funny that you bring up the difference between schools and adulthood. When I first graduated and started working, after about three months I was itching for a break. Only to realize that part of my life was gone haha So as you pointed out, let’s hit financial freedom as soon as possible so every day is spent doing what you love. That way, we will no longer crave a “spring break” because we will be so eager to continue doing what we love.

Ah the memories of Spring Break down in Galveston. A group of buddies and ladies piled into four cars and as many bottles of MD 20/20 (Mad Dog that is) that $20 could buy. I personally preferred the grape over the orange flavor. Those were the good ole days. Anyway back to the present…Congrats on being able to spend time doing what you guys want with no worries about time!

Seriously, this is one of the reasons putting me off moving back to the US. The work-life balance is not that great in terms of holiday time. Here in the UK, we typically get 30 days minimum, even for a basic job.

Anyway, since we realised that you could theoretically take 6 days off per month and still have enough to live off, then all that extra capital you’re adding over time will eventually let you have a spring break every week! Now that deserves another WOO HOO!

People are entitled to their vacations, but some employers make you feel guilty about that is for sure. When the employee goes on vacation, there usually needs to be someone to their job. In some cases, the employee has to train the person in how to do their job, and then when you come back off vacation you have to work even harder for a while if they replacement did not do things properly. When I did labour work, I didn’t have to worry or concern myself about this issue.

Vacations can do people a world of good though. Get to relax for a week or two and do what you want whenever you want to do it. Vacations can be good motivator for financial freedom also as it gives a person a sneak peek of what it is like. Enjoy the spring training game, beach etc.

That sounds awesome. I know exactly how you feel. Being able to stay up late and wake up late is honestly one of the best things about working for myself and setting my own schedule. I’ve never saw the need to adhere to an agrarian schedule, so I love doing my own thing.

Enjoy the sabbatical. Maybe this’ll turn out to be a permanent change for the better! 🙂

I know what you mean. I certainly love a lot of aspects about growing up, but the typical corporate schedule isn’t one of them. I remember being pretty free as a kid, getting on my bike and just riding for hours. It was like the whole world was out there for me. And then you kind of settle into a routine once you become an adult. Before you know it, life is behind you. And that’s what I really love about my life now; I’m able to really slow things down.

Keep fighting and climbing over there. Every day is another opportunity to reach higher. 🙂

Great point there. Even when you’re freely able to take a week or so off from work, the thought of putting someone else in the hole or having a mountain of work awaiting your return can kind of damper the mood.

The weather has been great lately. We’re really lucky this year. It’s basically like a Midwestern summer right now, so attending this game tomorrow will be a lot like hitting an Indians game in the middle of June or July. 🙂

Indeed, let’s continue to climb our way to the top of the mountain. That way we’ll be enjoying the view too much to think about doing anything else.

I’ve never been into partying or anything, so spring break was always a good time to relax for me. I always dreamed of just spending the whole week on a beach somewhere. Never really got a chance until now.

You’re building up the cash flow at a pretty crazy rate over there. You’ll be able to Mad Dog it up again pretty soon here. Keep it up! 🙂

I hear you. I wouldn’t want to live here either from that perspective. There’s a lot of wonderful things about the US and I’m lucky to have been born here, but the work-life balance is pretty bad. Fortunately, there’s plenty of abundance and opportunity to change that equation, such as what I’ve done and continue doing. Gotta take the good with the bad. 🙂

Six days off is a nice start, but I’m definitely still aiming for 31. Though, I don’t really “work” in a traditional capacity anymore. I’m blessed!

Yeah, we’re entitled to those breaks, but they’re often not all that stress-free if you have to worry about a mountain of work awaiting your return. It was never a smooth return back to work for me after taking time away because of the nature of the auto business. I’d generally come back to at least a few problems which impacted me in a fairly significant and immediate manner. But I never let that prevent me from taking my time. 🙂

You’ve gotta take that time to recharge. I remember taking two weeks off last year and I was never the same after that. After I realized what life was like without the everyday drama, I knew my time in the business was up.

Now, every week is almost like a spring break in that I no longer feel stressed out. Life is very, very good.

Well, I’m not taking this time off in a traditional sense. I don’t really work in the capacity of having a job anymore, so this isn’t really a vacation. My whole life is pretty much a vacation these days. Rather, I’m just looking forward to spending more time with Claudia since she’s also be home. Being home all day is wonderful, but it can get lonely. This will give us a chance to both enjoy the benefits of having more time. 🙂

Appreciate all the support. I’ll definitely still be around. Two new posts coming out this week and of course I still have all the freelance writing as well.

I’m currently in Orlando right now for some spring break. I caught the Detroit Tigers playing in Lakeland. It’s my first time catching a spring training game. It’s nice to escape the freezing temperatures of Michigan and get some sun. I’m tempted to move down here!

One thing that’s tough for my spring break is that even though I am physically in Orlando, a lot of my mind is back in Detroit. Even though I am taking “vacation time” I know there is work back at home with my name on it. I took Friday off, but a major project came up on Thursday right before my vacation. Even though my boss said, “Don’t worry about it”, parts of me do worry about it, because at the end of the day, it’s my responsibility.

I can’t wait to be financially independent one day, so if I take time off, I am truly taking time off. No worrying about what’s happening back at the office. No taking my laptop on vacation and working for an hour here and there.

You definitely have an enviable locale. Our weather has been alternating between spring and winter for the last 2 weeks. Although its mainly been winter. Enjoy your much deserved week off, well semi-off. Sounds like a great plan for the week. Its been forever since ive been to a baseball game myself.

Makes me happy to see the successes of your path – a spring break sounds phenomenal. I think my last break was over winter, which was approximately two weeks, as you’ve said, but not really when and where I’d like to take it.

Endless spring break, pick up and go when you please, and 25% of your expense covered by div income – “aint too shabby”. Looking forward to hearing how the vacation is and your upcoming articles. Enjoy the events and the ball game!

DM,
Don’t forget to document your El Salvador trip, I love out of country trips and meeting different people/cultures. People tend to be more hospitable when you are visiting their country. And for us we are planning to go back in the Philippines for the summer break for a month.

The one good thing about the work world is that you get to decide when you want to take time off (for the most part). I usually plan vacations to places during “off season” times so that prices are generally cheaper, and there’s usually less crowds. Sometimes that makes a significant difference, like my recent trip to Japan, but other times when you travel to cheap countries like various places in southeast asia or south America the off season is the difference between $10 and $13 for where you sleep at night which isn’t that big of a deal.

But I’m not saying the work world is better because of just that aspect, but to me it’s preferable to back when I was in college or school because now I have money to be able to do stuff without going into debt. But by all means I believe financial independence to really just live like it’s one long spring break will always win hands down, and I hope that is everyone’s eventual dream.

I don’t generally like a “break” from work generally because coming back to is seems so depressing, but I guess there’s nothing that we can help it. Anyway, enjoy the break, the game, the play and the company. It’s going to be better than ever.

Fun! Have a wonderful spring break! I’m definitely ready for lifelong spring break ;)… at the very least, I’m ready to not spend M-F in a cubicle in an office. You’re right, it does seem odd that we encourage children to take these necessary breaks, but then forget all about that mindset when we’re adults.

My wife is a teacher and I been freelancing for many years. I know the feeling of being able to spend time with each other during a break. We generally spend the whole summer together doing what ever we want. Enjoy your new freedom. Have fun on your vacation.

Congrats on being able to take a Spring Break! Vacations away from the daily grind can definitely be a good morale booster and increase productivity. I myself definitely felt the effects of taking a short 4 day trip a few weeks back and I just felt fresher and ready to get work done once I got back.

Instead of employers looking down upon people for taking a vacation, it should be mandatory that they give you a break. Just 4 days can do a world of joy to your energy bank and I bet your employer would welcome the extra effort you put in.

My wife loves spring break, and reminding me that I don’t have one. Way to take advantage of the situation around you and a solid move getting some travel out of the country in, something I always like to hear about ~ getting some good travel and new experiences. Let us know how that goes.

Being a resident of the DC area, I must say if it is an O’s game you go to – make sure to boo them at least once for me. Just trying to keep the local city rivalry healthy.

Good point there. I guess what you want is the best of both worlds: the time to enjoy life and enough money to enjoy the activities that you derive pleasure and lasting joy from. And financial independence should offer that wonderful combination, for the most part. 🙂

The opportunity to travel is also something that’s much easier when you don’t have a job. For one, you can travel during off-peak times, as you mention. But another important aspect is that you can spread the costs of airline tickets out over a greater period of time by staying somewhere longer. That lowers the cost of travel while also giving you the opportunity to actually discover a local culture a bit more.

One long spring break. Awesome, right? It’s really just getting to the point to where every day is yours and you’re doing exactly what you want when you want with who you want. What could be more awesome than that? 🙂

I guess it’s one long tease for kids. Then we drop the hammer on them (us). Time to flip the script back!

I’m with you. I think breaks can be a major boost to productivity. On the other hand, I always loathed going back to work after a break, especially a long break. That last day of vacation was always filled with anxiety for me, much like every Sunday evening. But the breaks definitely kept the wheel greased along the way. 🙂

Sierra Key Beach was just named the best beach in the US, so you’re in the right spot! My wife is also a teacher, and last year we were able to do a 4 week trip to 9 countries in Europe and SE Asia, and the trip was fully paid for using points. All we had to buy was food. It was also our first time in business class and also traveling outside the US besides cruises to Mexico or the Bahamas.

Spring break sounds really great. Here in Germany, we not really have a spring break. During school we have 1 to 3 weeks off, depending on christmas, eastern or summer break. During college we have the big summer break with 8 weeks. Nevertheless, most students will work or do an internship.

One good thing about Germany is our hollidays of 23 to 30 days (working days). That means we can spent up to 6 weeks for hollidays! I saw a lot of countries like US or Australia, where such hollidays are pretty shorter.

I just got back from a long weekend in Phoenix. Great weather down there. I’m not personally a baseball fan but I think a lot of the teams had already started their spring training there. It was cool to see the atmosphere it created. My wife is a teacher so we also travel according to the school schedule and each year try to go somewhere for spring break. Your plans sound like fun, enjoy!

I just got back from a week in Hawaii. With weekends it was 11 straight days off and it was really needed. My stress level went way down and I was able to spend lots of time at the beach and the pool with my two little boys.

While I have 4 weeks of vacation a year, I usually only take about 2. The good thing is in California, your accrued vacation can’t be taken away (only the accrual can stop), so that means when I don’t take it the vacation hours are like a savings account that increases every time I get a raise!

I look forward to where spring break is full-time and work is only a couple fo weeks a year!

I remember people in the company I used to work for didn’t take any time off at all during the year, so they had to spill over their time off to the next year or collect a check. It was ridiculus, but they wore that sacrifice like some sort of badge. It was a pathetic way of distinguishing themselves from the pack.

Spoongirl and I are really enjoying ourselves these days. It’s always spring break, as you point out. We are taking advantage of an early spring here in the PNW, it’s been great.

Siesta Key Beach is indeed beautiful. It usually wins contests and receives rave reviews thanks to its sand softness and quality. And the surf is gentle. I actually prefer Lido Key Beach because it’s less crowded, smaller, and more intimate. But it’s like choosing between great and greater. 🙂

Sounds like you guys had a great time over there. I hope to visit SE Asia at some point. Claudia’s not a big fan of the idea, but I’d love to see Thailand. Cheap, beautiful, great food, nice people, different culture, and awesome weather. What more could you want?

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you guys have fun this year as well during her spring break!

That’s great that you guys get all that time off. I couldn’t imagine 30 working days off. I know from my experience in the auto industry that some dealerships offer up to three or four workweeks off (15-20 days), but you have to be there for 10-15 years. And with the turnover, it’s quite rare that anyone gets that.

Having access to that kind of time off would sure make the journey to financial independence a lot less stressful. Not only do you enjoy the ride there, but you’re not in such a hurry.

Nice idea there with Phoenix. Never been to Phoenix. Arizona in general seems pretty nice, though. I actually think the scenery in that part of the US is pretty beautiful.

That’s great that you get to schedule time off with your wife. I was always jealous of Claudia’s schedule because I always had to work during her breaks. It’s nice to see what that kind of schedule looks like firsthand.

The stadium was filled to capacity today, so I guess people take their spring training baseball pretty seriously. It was definitely fun.

Oh, I bet you loved that! I went on a cruise many, many years ago to the Caribbean. Didn’t really get to enjoy it, though, due to weather. Would love to see some of the islands down there.

That kind of break is exactly what some of us need to inspire us to work even harder to reach FI. Glad you got to experience that. Just think, you could even live down there if you wanted to once you’re FI. The possibilities are endless. 🙂

We did Bangkok on our last trip for 2 nights and loved it so much we’re going back for 5 nights this summer along with Bali, Macau, and Hong Kong. 2 nights was definitely too short for all but 1 city on our trip, so we’re doing 4 nights for all but Macau since it’s so small. I’d love to go to some of the Thai beaches, they all look beautiful to me.

I’m jealous! Would love to visit Hawaii one of these days. I actually considered moving there instead of Florida way back in 2009, but the cost of living, tax situation, and employment numbers were all better here. But you never know!

That’s great that you can bank the time off. I was able to cash out any time I didn’t use at the end of every year, but that rarely happened. I generally tried to take the time off. I’d much rather have the time than the money for sure.

I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about there. Some of my former co-workers used to actually brag about not taking any time off. I never understood what there was to brag about?? So you have nothing else to do other than come to work? And you’re bragging about that? Kind of relates to what I’ve written about in the past where people lack identities outside of what they do for a living. That’s a shame.

I’ve bee meaning to ask you what you think about the PNW? Do you like it up there? Think the quality of life is high? I’ll probably never leave Florida, but I hear Portland is really nice. I decided not to move there back in 2009 due to taxes and weather. I hear it’s even better now, though, than what it was back then. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Sounds like a wonderful week ahead for you, my friend! I’m a big live theatre fan (when it’s good) and I completely forgot spring training had started in baseball. Hope you two have a terrific time together, enjoy it!

Hi Jason,
Can’t wait to be there too! 🙂 We live in a collective psychosis that we call society and we forget to really live… I want a spring break too. Haven’t had one in more than a decade too… I miss it so much!

The PNW is a great place, especially if you can handle the weather. The clouds that the region gets actually make the winter very mild compared to other parts of the country (the midwest and northeast are drowning in snow right now, I don’t think I’ll ever live there). The price of housing here is still very affordable compared other parts of the country. That’s one of the reasons why many people are moving here. The quality of life is definitely high.

We will be going to our next travel destination soon, but someday it’s likely we’ll return to the PNW and settle down.

I’ve never been to a spring training game before this afternoon, but it was really good. There’s not a bad seat in the house when you’re in a small stadium. And it’s a lot cheaper as well. More enjoyable when the tickets are reasonably priced.

Awesome article – thanks so much, I have greatly benefited from your insights on your site, and from your hope-filled perspective! I came across your site a year ago and found that you and I are investing very much in a similar fashion, but I also took many cues from what you said here (and ended up reading a few of the books you recommended too, THANKS FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS!). I have two questions: where on your site can we see the annualized growth rate for your portfolio (like, not including the contributions, but the overall percentage rate return per year?) (i am not even sure how easy it could be to calculate that, especially since contributions would always be throwing off the numbers…?). My other question is about a stock, I am looking into Peak Resorts (skis ticker). They just went public recently and have a large dividend rate. I know they are not the typical stock you would invest in, but everything I see as I research them looks great. I realize that as a smaller cap company, they will be more volatile, and they also do not have a long enough history for most dividend investors to be interested in them… but I would love to hear some of your thoughts about Peak Resorts – if you think they seem like a decent enough company. Anyway, I hope I am not asking too much! hehe – I am just totally curious and have a LOT to learn still! Thanks man!
JC

Appreciate the readership and support very much. I’m doing my best to educate, share, and inspire on my way to financial independence. Even better, I get to share my mistakes along the way. 🙂

I don’t publicly track the total returns of the portfolio because it’s not relevant to financial independence, the dividend coverage of expenses, or really anything that I discuss. That said, I generally look at the XIRR once or twice a year. It was north of 18% annualized since 2010 the last time I checked, at the end of 2014.

As far as Peak Resorts, I guess I would ask you why you think they’re a decent company? I can only see unimpressive fundamentals, a lack of profit, and certainly no track record since they just went public. Thus, I wouldn’t personally be interested. But if you see something compelling there, then it might make sense for you and your portfolio. I just don’t see anything I really like. I don’t mind investing in small companies per se, but only when the quality is there and there’s a good track record. AMNF would be one of those smaller companies I invested in where I think the quality is there. I would caution that a newly public company with a market cap of only $100 million isn’t only outside what I generally discuss, but also high in risk. Maybe you could share what you see here?

Now, I want it both ways and that is precisely why I started to pursue early retirement.

I am 30 years old and currently manage a 206k portfolio. The plan is to hit 1 million before my 40th birthday. Then, I will probably work the minimum amount of hours in order to retain my benefits; Leave with income averaging, flex schedule, part time hours, etc. I am a public servant so I have a lot of options (including an awesome pension plan).

I pulled 98K last year according to my 2014 tax return report. Lots of hard work and overtime involved. I fully accept that I will have to give up at a lot of time to come up with a 6 figure salary. But eventually, my goal will be reached.

With frugality, I will get there. It is only a matter of time. Meanwhile, I do my my best to enjoy the journey and make the best of it.

Seattle vs Portland is a toss up, there’s so many things that go either way. Seattle has the advantage of being in Washington, where there’s no state income tax, but it’s a bigger city with a higher COL. Portland is more of a decaf experience, but they have state income tax (but no sales tax). It really comes down to personal tastes in the end because those other factors can be a wash. Lots of good beer all over the PNW =).

Come to Thailand, Jason and you won’t be disappointed. Tons of great beaches around and the culture is laid back and interesting, with a totally different experience than in the USA. You will appreciate how wide the world really is.

Sounds like you’re in a great spot there. Six-figure portfolio with a six-figure income. That’s fantastic. I was never able to earn anything close to that from my day job, though my income was starting to get up there over the last year or of working in the auto industry when adding in the dividends and the blogging income.

I can’t see why you won’t hit $1 million (or come very close) by 40 with that kind of start and the income you’re pulling in, assuming you’re saving half or so of your income.

Best of luck with everything over there. I’ll definitely see you at the finish line. I can tell you now that I’m no longer working full-time that the grass is indeed greener on the other side. 🙂

Last week was my spring break with wife and kids! We went in a cottage we rented and it was great times! I’m fortunate to have had this free time even with my day-job for some years already. Of course, it demands that I bring the same results as the ones who don’t take breaks… With that pressure on, I’ve always been pushing myself to make more in less time. The fact I succeeded at it made me took detours into freedom though. That is what I want to change from now on. 😉

Glad to hear you guys had a great time over there. That’s what life is all about. 🙂

That added pressure is kind of what I was discussing in the posts and in the comments. Even when you take time off, you know that work – probably even more work than you had before – is awaiting your return, which adds pressure and stress that makes enjoying the time off somewhat difficult. Being financially independent completely alleviates that pressure, which is wonderful.

Just got back from a snowboarding trip to Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor in Oregon and found out you can have the best of both worlds if you live in Vancouver Washington (no income tax), but then just drive across the river to Portland for any big item shopping (no sales tax), and get the added benefits of the weirdness of Portland.

Have a great Spring Break! We’re not doing too much. Mrs. RB40 is still working so she doesn’t get the week off. I enrolled the little guy in spring break camp for 2 days. We’ll try to do more in the summer.

Interesting that you say that you were encouraged to work through your two weeks throughout your career.

I’m not sure if this is the case in the US but in the UK, for most (if not all) financial institutions, it is mandatory for staff to take 10 days consecutively off for holiday per year, during which time, they should not be accessing company pcs/laptops or systems.

This rule, I believe is in place to weed out any criminal activity, including the likes of rogue traders, people fixing books/ledgers, money laundering etc.

So, for the normal hard working folk, it’s good that the business says “Go have your two weeks’ paid holiday!”

For those other folk however, their dodgy dealings may come alight in the two weeks they are off!

Yeah, I think it might be a bit different over here in the US. Of course, one’s experience might vary depending on the industry they work in. But my experience was such that nobody liked anyone taking time off because it meant that certain things didn’t get done or someone was doing someone else’s work (which they might purposely slack off on until the other person returns). I’m just glad all of that is behind me.

But Europe is far different than the US in terms of work-life balance, as far as I understand. That’s really wonderful. Makes it a bit easier to enjoy life along the way. Of course it was only because my work schedule was so demanding that I started down this path, so maybe that’s a good thing!

Thanks so much for the reply! I really appreciate it! Upon further analysis, I really started to see that the fundamentals are not as great as I initially had thought… I was considering more regarding their large dividend, and also how eager they seem to be in buying up other resorts… but then when I looked at the numbers again (after your reply), I started to be like, “dude, no way…. I can’t have peace about investing in this company”

I am still learning a lot regarding fundamental analysis of companies… so thanks for the warning! (either way, I still am learning as much as I can before I begin to invest regularly… a few years ago I started reading lots of books on various theories, but more and more I become convinced that some sort of fundamental analysis in line with dividend growth stocks seems best… but I just need to learn to do the analysis more properly before I begin!). So thanks for pushing back a bit there, it caused me to really take a more serious look at the underlying numbers.

Thank you also for mentioning the approximate annualized rate – and I totally agree, the goal is cashflow, not simply percentages for the sake of looking good, ha! Thanks for that clarification. That is something I continually appreciate about your blog – there is consistent focus to what you say, and it does not appear that you are fickle in your perspective, rather, you keep the vision alive. I really appreciate that.

Anyway, thanks again for your consistency and keep up the good work man!
jc

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